A new game

Today at Brandy Station, April 29, 1864A soldier from the 32nd Massachusetts wrote to a Captain friend from Bealeton Virginia,

“The officers have got a new game that they play every after noon. It is BaseBall. I wished you could see Colonel [George L.] Prescott run after the ball. He looks like an ostrich when he runs. All the boys laugh at him and Col [Luther] Stephenson [Jr.] plays also. He is the largest man that I ever saw to lazy to run after the ball. I think you would be amused if you could see us play."

It seems that the officers weren't allowing the enlisted men (at least in the 32nd) an opportunity to play. Other regiments played throughout the spring, including the 4th Michigan Infantry and the 1st New York Artillery Regiment (light), Battery L, who beat the Excelsior Baseball Club by a score of 71 - 23. Yes 71.